{"id":21059,"date":"2026-06-12T21:10:38","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T21:10:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mundusmaris.org\/?p=21059"},"modified":"2026-06-22T07:08:35","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T07:08:35","slug":"world-ocean-day-at-the-rio-de-la-plata-argentina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mundusmaris.org\/fr\/journee-mondiale-de-locean\/wod-2026-fr\/world-ocean-day-at-the-rio-de-la-plata-argentina\/","title":{"rendered":"World Ocean Day at the Rio de la Plata, Argentina"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the Universidad de Belgrano in Buenos Aires, the closing activity of the Marine Resources course on 10 June 2026 coincided with the celebration of World Ocean Day. The occasion had a special meaning: it was not only the final class of the course, but also one of the last compulsory attendance activities for students completing their degree in Biological Sciences.<\/p>\n

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The pier of the Club de Pescadores de Buenos Aires, extending nearly 600 metres into the R\u00edo de la Plata.<\/p><\/div>\n

The meeting took place at the Club de Pescadores, in the City of Buenos Aires, on the shores of the R\u00edo de la Plata. From this site, where the landscape appears at first sight to be dominated by freshwater, students were invited to observe the environment with one guiding question in mind: Where does the ocean really begin?<\/p>\n

The activity was designed to connect the course contents with a real-world environmental setting, to recognize the ecological continuity between the R\u00edo de la Plata and the Atlantic Ocean, to practice scientific observation, and to reflect on the conservation and sustainable use of marine resources.<\/p>\n

Under the 2026 World Ocean Day motto \u2014 \u201cReimagine. Beyond The World We Know: A New Relationship With The Ocean<\/strong>\u201d \u2014 the groups observed water, birds, plants, fish, fishers, boats, fishing rods, piers, buildings, visitor information signs, recreational activities, and waste.<\/p>\n

The riverbank thus emerged as a hybrid space: natural and urban, fluvial and marine, local and global.<\/p>\n<\/div>

Students also identified many signs of human influence. The Club itself, the pier, the modified shoreline, the nearby Costanera, the airport, urban infrastructure, recreational fishing, introduced species, noise pollution, and the presence of plastics and other residue all showed that this is not an isolated natural system, but an intensely used coastal environment. Precisely for that reason, it became a meaningful place to think about the ocean from the city.<\/p>\n

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The R\u00edo de la Plata, one of the world\u2019s most distinctive marine ecoregions, showing a salinity gradient from the freshwater outflow of the Paran\u00e1 Delta to the marine waters of the Atlantic<\/p><\/div>\n

The R\u00edo de la Plata was recognized as a system that provides multiple ecosystem services (Figure 2). Students mentioned food provision, recreation, navigation, education and research, tourism, cultural and historical value, and climate regulation through the role of aquatic and coastal ecosystems in carbon storage and temperature moderation. For several of them, the activity made visible the cultural dimension of the river: a place of fishing, memory, identity, and everyday contact with water. Some also emphasized its economic importance as one of Argentina\u2019s main navigation corridors, closely linked to ports, South American exports, and national development.<\/p>\n<\/div>

A simple measurement using a Secchi disk was made to determine, until which depth the white disk was still visible with a naked eye. That triggered a discussion about water transparency, turbidity, and their relationship with primary productivity. The students connected this observation with the penetration of light, suspended sediments, phytoplankton, eutrophication, and chlorophyll. They also proposed ecological hypotheses that could be tested through field sampling, such as the relationship between nutrient inputs from urban or agricultural areas and phytoplankton abundance, between water transparency and primary productivity, between salinity gradients and species distribution, or between pollution and aquatic biodiversity.<\/p>\n

Although the Club de Pescadores is in a freshwater sector of the R\u00edo de la Plata, students understood why this area can still be considered part of a marine ecoregion. They pointed out that there is no physical separation between the river and the Atlantic Ocean. Instead, the system forms a large estuary where freshwater and seawater interact, creating gradients of salinity, transparency, nutrients, sediments, and biological communities. This connectivity supports feeding, reproduction, nursery areas, and migration routes of many species, while the sediments and nutrients transported by the river contribute to the productivity of the adjacent marine environment.<\/p>\n

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Students measure Secchi\u2019s depth to verify turbidity in Rio de la Plata. These waters contribute with nutrients to the rich marine productivity of the Argentine Sea.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>

The dialogue with local fishers added a social and territorial dimension to the activity. Students recorded comments about the influence of winds, water turbidity, seasons, and the presence or absence of species such as boga (Megaleporinus obtusidens<\/em><\/a>) and silverside (Odontesthes bonariensis<\/em><\/a>). They also valued the fishers\u2019 knowledge of techniques, environmental changes, water quality, and the importance of fishing as a recreational and cultural activity. For some students, the Club itself appeared not only as a fishing site, but also as a place of personal and collective connection with nature. This exchange helped integrate local knowledge with ecological questions, showing that marine conservation is not built only in classrooms or laboratories, but also by listening to those who interact with the water every day.<\/p>\n

Pollution was another central topic. The group observed plastics, bags, bottles, wrappers, tires, fishing lines, hooks, nylon, cigarette butts, Tetra Pak containers, and other waste. They discussed possible pathways by which this material may reach the riverbank: directly discarded by visitors, transported by wind from the Costanera, carried by currents from upstream areas, or associated with urban, recreational, port, and commercial activities.<\/p>\n

One shared conclusion was that protecting the ocean begins long before reaching the sea: it begins in watersheds, in cities, in streets, in coastlines, in waste management, and in everyday decisions.<\/p>\n

The students repeatedly emphasized that what happens on land eventually reaches the water. Rivers, streams, storm water, sewage, industrial effluents, agricultural runoff, plastics, oils, and other pollutants can move through the watershed and ultimately affect estuarine and marine ecosystems. In this sense, caring for the R\u00edo de la Plata is also a way of caring for the Atlantic Ocean.<\/p>\n

Climate change also emerged as an unavoidable connection between the river and the ocean. Students pointed out that sea-level rise, storm surges, changes in rainfall patterns, droughts, floods, saltwater intrusion, and the increase in algal blooms may alter the ecological balance of the estuary. These changes can affect water quality, species distribution, coastal dynamics, fisheries, biodiversity, and human communities. They also recognized that impacts on the river and the ocean are not separate processes, but part of the same connected system.<\/p>\n

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From the shores of the R\u00edo de la Plata, Universidad de Belgrano Biology students celebrated World Ocean Day during one of the final classes of their undergraduate studies, held at the Club de Pescadores de Buenos Aires.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>

For several students, the activity changed the way they valued marine ecosystems. Some highlighted biodiversity and the ecological importance of fauna; others emphasized the ocean\u2019s role in climate regulation, food provision, cultural life, and human well-being. Several also recognized more clearly that small-scale and artisanal fishing can represent lower-impact ways of relating to aquatic resources, if they are accompanied by responsible management and conservation. One reflection was particularly concrete: valuing marine resources also means remembering where seafood comes from, and why caring for aquatic ecosystems is essential if future generations are to continue benefiting from them.<\/p>\n

At the end of the activity, one phrase captured the meaning of the experience: \u201cThe R\u00edo de la Plata is not the edge of the map; it is the beginning of the ocean. Caring for it is a global act that begins at home.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Celebrating World Ocean Day in Buenos Aires, on the shores of the R\u00edo de la Plata, made it possible to understand that the ocean does not begin only where we see the open sea. It begins in rivers, wetlands, ports, cities, watersheds, and everyday decisions. For these future biologists, the last Marine Resources class was also an invitation to imagine a new relationship with the ocean: closer, more responsible, more attentive to local knowledge, and more aware of the connections that sustain life.<\/p>\n

After the field observations across the pier, the activity concluded with an informal shared snack inside the Club, offering a final moment for conversation, reflection, and gratitude.<\/p>\n

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The field activities along the pier concluded with a brief informal snack inside the Club de Pescadores.<\/p><\/div>\n

Our sincere gratitude goes to the Club de Pescadores de Buenos Aires for its generous hospitality and continued support of educational experiences that bring students closer to the R\u00edo de la Plata and the ocean.<\/p>\n

Text and pictures by Marcelo L. Morales Yokobori. The activity was dedicated to World Ocean Day 2026 and took place under the cooperation agreement between Universidad de Belgrano and Mundus maris<\/em> asbl.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":21072,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[206],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wod-2026-fr"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mundusmaris.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mundusmaris.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mundusmaris.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mundusmaris.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mundusmaris.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21059"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.mundusmaris.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21059\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21067,"href":"https:\/\/www.mundusmaris.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21059\/revisions\/21067"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mundusmaris.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mundusmaris.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mundusmaris.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mundusmaris.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}